The lifestyle business model isn’t right for every person or every industry. As a newborn care specialist, I found our industry is better suited for personal connections over scalability. This is one of the many great reasons why newborn care lends itself to a lifestyle business over the start-up business model. Our goal isn’t massive user adoption; it’s healthy, happy babies and parents who sleep through the night. While this likely means your company won’t be the next Uber, Airbnb or Palantir, it’s a great form of self-employment that caters to those seeking a work-life balance.
There are plenty of great reasons to start a lifestyle business, but a few spoke to me personally and professionally:
- Flexibility to be a mom and an entrepreneur
- The ability to build upon what I love doing
- Direct control over the quality of my brand
- Immediate profitability with low overhead
There are many paths to success in creating a lifestyle business and ours is illustrated below. If you’re passionate about your work and others find value in what you do, then this path can work for you as well.
Do something you truly love that provides value to others. Choosing what you want to do is without a doubt the most difficult part of starting a business and probably one of the most difficult decisions you’ll make in life. You should also consider the future when analyzing the criteria of Love and Value. It’s possible that what you choose might not hold value in the future. It’s also possible that your field of choice may not currently hold value, but it might be an emerging niche market.
Key takeaway – Analyze the market and analyze yourself before choosing a path
Gain education and experience until you’re one of the best in your field. We’re truly living in an incredible time where ordinary people have access to vast amounts of information on virtually any subject. Whether it’s done through YouTube, iTunesU, or independent research, everyone has access to enough information to become an expert. You can even use social media to reach out and directly connect to existing industry experts. Many fields also include local group training. This provides budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn as well as build a network.
Key takeaway – I spent over $30,000 on grad school and about $1000 on my initial newborn care training. Which do you think has been more valuable? You don’t need to rack up student loans to get an education.
Market yourself as an expert. No, don’t create an obnoxious marketing campaign where you claim to be the most knowledgeable person in your field. Instead, create content that helps people who are seeking information about your niche. Build a website and create well-thought blog posts to help shape your brand. Another great medium for this is on Quora – a simple question and answer site. By providing detailed answers to questions about your field, you build an online presence that acts as your personal bona fides. Message boards and social media groups act similarly. Just ensure you maintain a professional online presence even when others don’t.
Key takeaway – You don’t get paid to market yourself, but it pays off in the long run.
Stay tuned for Part II of How to Create a Lifestyle Business!